Local Restaurateur Robert Nidzyn Dead At 61

For local restaurateur and real estate agent Robert Nidzyn, few things made him happier than talking with his friends and customers about his family, particularly his two sons, Robert Jr. and Erik Wesley Nidzyn.Mr. Nidzyn also enjoyed spending time at his two restaurants—Scales and Tails and the Trackside Cafe, both in Speonk—where he could often be spotted leaning over a counter and engaging others in conversation. He knew everything about the community, including his hometown of Remsenburg, and its history, and was happy to share it with anyone who would listen, according to his wife, Lisa.

“He had many, many friends and people knew him because he talked to everybody,” she said this week. “Even if he didn’t know you, he would want to talk to you. He would ask what is the weather like there, what house did you grow up in—anything he could ask. That is the essence of who he was.”

Family and friends say they will remember Mr. Nidzyn, who died suddenly at his home on Tuesday morning, for his generous nature and ability to cull long-lasting friendships. He was 61.

“He liked having Trackside and Scales and Tails because he liked talking to people,” Ms. Nidzyn said. “Whatever he could do to help you as a person or business wise—to make food or just to get to know you—he would do.”

Mr. Nidzyn was born March 1, 1956 at Southampton Hospital to Robert and Stella Nidzyn. Aside from briefly living in Florida, where he helped open and manage two restaurants—Conchy Joe’s Seafood in Jensen Beach and Haymakers in Stuart—Mr. Nidzyn stayed in Remsenburg for most of his life, buying a house with his wife next door to his childhood home on South Phillips Avenue. When he wasn’t working, he would often visit Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, a town in Florida where he has vacationed since he was a child.

After graduating from Westhampton Beach High School and, later, SUNY Delhi, Mr. Nidzyn returned to Remsenburg in 1988, opening Scales and Tails the following year. He opened the Trackside Cafe, which sits just up the road, in 2006. Four years ago, he began working for Hampton Properties in Westhampton Beach selling real estate.

In addition to his wife and their two sons, Mr. Nidzyn is survived by his mother, Stella, two sisters, Arlene Nidzyn and Karen Glover, his mother-in-law, Katherine Marselle, and several nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his father.

A wake will be held for Mr. Nidzyn on Thursday, March 30, from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m., at the Follett and Werner Funeral Home in Westhampton Beach. A funeral will be held on Friday, March 31, at the Remsenburg-Community Presbyterian Church at 10 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Family Service League of Long Island, which runs the former Family Counseling Services offices on Westhampton Beach Main Street. Burial will follow at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Center Moriches.